Born on this day – Tom Wilkinson:

Tom Wilkinson

Actor

February 5, 1948 – December 30, 2023

Credits:

The Full Monty (2023); SAS: Red Notice (2021); Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets (2021); Belgravia (2020); Watership Down (2018); Dead in a Week Or Your Money Back (2018); The Titan (2018); Burden (2018); The Happy Prince (2018); The Catcher Was a Spy (2018); This Beautiful Fantastic (2016); Denial (2016); Snowden (2016); The Choice (2016); Jenny's Wedding (2015); Little Boy (2015); Unfinished Business (2015); Selma (2014); Good People (2014); The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014); Felony (2013); Belle (2013); The Lone Ranger (2013); Sleeping Dogs (2012); The Samaritan (2012); The Gruffalo's Child (2011); Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011); The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011); The Kennedys (2011); The Green Hornet (2011); Burke and Hare (2010); The Conspirator (2010); The Debt (2010); Jackboots on Whitehall (2010); The Ghost Writer (2010); The Gruffalo (2009); 44 Inch Chest (2009); Duplicity (2009); Valkyrie (2008); A Number (2008); RocknRolla (2008); Recount (2008); John Adams (2008); Michael Clayton (2007); Cassandra's Dream (2007); Dedication (2007); The Last Kiss (2006); The Night of the White Pants (2006); Ripley Under Ground (2005); Separate Lies (2005); The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005); Batman Begins (2005); Piccadilly Jim (2004); A Good Woman (2004); Stage Beauty (2004); Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004); If Only (2004); Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003); Normal (2003); An Angel for May (2002); Before You Go (2002); The Importance of Being Earnest (2002); The Gathering Storm (2002); Black Knight (2001); Another Life (2001); In the Bedroom (2001); Chain of Fools (2000); Essex Boys (2000); The Patriot (2000); David Copperfield (1999); Ride with the Devil (1999); Molokai (1999); Shakespeare in Love (1998); Jilting Joe (1998); Rush Hour (1998); The Governess (1998); Cold Enough for Snow (1997); Oscar and Lucinda (1997); Wilde (1997); The Full Monty (1997); Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997); Screen Two (1990–1996); The Ghost and the Darkness (1996); Interview Day (1996); A Very Open Prison (1995); Sense and Sensibility (1995); Martin Chuzzlewit (1994); Performance (1994); Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1994); Priest (1994); Alleyn Mysteries (1994); Royal Deceit (1994); A Business Affair (1994); In the Name of the Father (1993); Resnick: Rough Treatment (1993); Stay Lucky (1993); An Exchange of Fire (1993); Resnick: Lonely Hearts (1992); Underbelly (1992); Prime Suspect (1991); Lovejoy (1991); Parnell & the Englishwoman (1991); Paper Mask (1990); Counterstrike (1990); TECX (1990); Inspector Morse (1990); First and Last (1989); Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1988); The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank (1988); The Woman He Loved (1988); The Lost Secret (1986); First Among Equals (1986); Happy Families (1985); Travelling Man (1985); Sylvia (1985); Miss Marple: A Pocketful of Rye (1985); Wetherby (1985); Bones (1984); Sakharov (1984); Squaring the Circle (1984); Sharma and Beyond (1984); Strangers and Brothers (1984); Spyship (1983); All for Love (1983); Panorama (1982); Crime and Punishment (1979); The Shadow Line (1976); 2nd House (1975).

On this day in movie history - The Outlaw (1943)

The Outlaw

directed by Howard Hughes and Howard Hawks,

written by Jules Furthman, Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht,

was released in the United States on February 5, 1943.

Music by Victor Young.

Cast:

Jack Buetel, Jane Russell, Thomas Mitchell, Walter Huston, Mimi Aguglia, Joe Sawyer, Gene Rizzi, Bobby Callahan, Martin Garralaga, Ben Johnson, Dickie Jones, Cecil Kellogg, Ethan Laidlaw, Ted Mapes, William Newell, Emory Parnell, Edward Peil Sr., Wallace Reid Jr., Julian Rivero, Lee Shumway, William Steele, Harry Strang, Frank Ward, Pat West.

On this day in movie history - Payback (1999)

Payback

directed by Brian Helgeland,

written by Brian Helgeland and Terry Hayes,

based on the novel The Hunter by Richard Stark,

was released in the United States on February 5, 1999.

Music by Chris Boardman and Scott Stambler.

Cast:

Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, Lucy Alexis Liu, Deborah Kara Unger, David Paymer, Bill Duke, Jack Conley, John Glover, William Devane, James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Trevor St. John, Freddy Rodriguez, Manu Tupou.

On this day in the Star Trek universe - The Next Generation, Voyager, Enterprise

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1994)
Star Trek: Voyager (1996 & 1997)
Star Trek: Enterprise (2003)
 

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 7. Episode 15.

Episode entitled: Lower Decks.

Released February 5, 1994.

Directed by Gabrielle Beaumont.

Written by René Echevarria, Ronald Wilkerson, Jean Louise Matthias, Naren Shankar.

Created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jay Chattaway.

Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Dan Gauthier, Shannon Fill, Alexander Enberg, Bruce Beatty, Patti Yasutake, Don Reilly, David Keith Anderson, Lena Banks, Michael Braveheart, Cameron, Tracee Cocco, John Copage, Debbie David, Elliot Durant III, Gunnel Eriksson, Holiday Freeman, Keith Gearhart, Linda Harcharic, Gary Hunter, Rad Milo, Joyce Robinson, John Alex Tampoya, Oliver Theess.

 

Star Trek: Voyager
Season 2. Episode 16.

Episode entitled: Meld.

Released February 5, 1996.

Directed by Cliff Bole.

Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor.

Written by Michael Piller, Michael Sussman, Kenneth Biller, Lisa Klink.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by David Bell.

Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Biggs-Dawson, Jennifer Lien, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Brad Dourif, Angela Dohrmann, Simon Billig, Majel Barrett, Johnetta Anderson, John Copage, Damaris Cordelia, Debbie David, Tarik Ergin, Heather Ferguson, Susan Henley, Kerry Hoyt, Bob Mascagno, Karole Nellis, Louis Ortiz, Shepard Ross, Simon Stotler, John Alex Tampoya.

 

Star Trek: Voyager
Season 3. Episode 16.

Episode entitled: Blood Fever.

Released February 5, 1997.

Directed by Andrew Robinson.

Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor.

Written by Lisa Klink.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jay Chattaway.

Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Biggs-Dawson, Jennifer Lien, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Alexander Enberg, Bruce Bohne, Deborah Levin, Elle Alexander, Ted Barba, Tarik Ergin, Jennifer Gundy, Louis Ortiz, Amy Jo Traicoff.

 

Star Trek: Enterprise
Season 2. Episode 14.

Episode entitled: Stigma.

Released February 5, 2003.

Directed by David Livingston.

Written by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, André Bormanis.

Created by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Opening theme song: Faith of the Heart, performed by Russell Watson.

Closing theme: Archer's Theme, by Dennis McCarthy.

Music by Dennis McCarthy.

Cast: Scott Bakula, John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, Linda Park, Connor Trinneer, Melinda Page Hamilton, Michael Ensign, Bob Morrisey, Jeffrey/Jeff Hayenga, Lee Spencer, Alexandrea Ortiz, Antony Acker, Solomon Burke Jr., Mark Correy, Ken Gruz, Roy Joaquin, Mark Major, Louis Ortiz, Lidia Sabljic.

On this day in television history - Justified (2013)

Justified
Season 4. Episode 5.

Episode entitled: Kin.

Released February 5, 2013.

Directed by Peter Werner.

Written by Graham Yost, Fred Golan, VJ Boyd, Ingrid Escajeda, Leonard Chang.

Based on the short story Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.

Music by Steve Porcaro.
 
Cast:

Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Walton Goggins, Patton Oswalt, Jere Burns, Ron Eldard, Jim Beaver, Bonita Friedericy, Rick Gomez, Gerald McRaney, David Meunier, Abby Miller, Mike O'Malley, Romy Rosemont, Stephen Tobolowsky, Alexandra Kyle, Tom E. Proctor, Christopher Douglas Reed, Natalie Zea, Raymond J. Barry, Jonathan Kowalsky, Kevin McNamara, Ted Cannon, Michael FitzGibbon, Cathy Baron, Hayley Timsit, Azmyth Kaminski.

On this day in music history - Voila, by Belinda Carlisle and Miss Understood by Carolyn Wonderland

Voila

by Belinda Carlisle,

was released on February 5, 2007.

Track list: Ma Jeunesse Fout Le Camp; Bonnie et Clyde; Avec le Temps; Sous le Ciel de Paris; Des Ronds Dans L'eau; Pourtant Tu M'aimes; Ne Me Quitte Pas; La Vie en Rose; Contact; Merci Cherie; Jezebel.

Miss Understood

Album by Carolyn Wonderland,

released February 5, 2008.

Track list: Misunderstood; I Found the Lions; Bad Girl Blues; Walk on; Still Alive and Well; Long Way to Go; Trouble in the City; Throw My Love; I Live Alone with Someone; The Farmer Song; Feed Me to the Lions; I Don’t Want to Fall for You.

Romeo Is Bleeding (1994) - the pain of regret:

Romeo is Bleeding

Review by Jack Kost

You ever wonder what hell is like? Maybe it ain’t the place you think. Fire and Brimstone. Devil with horns, poking you in the butt with a pitchfork. What’s hell? The time you should have walked, but you didn’t. That’s hell.

– Gary Oldman as Jim Daugherty / Jack Grimaldi.

Atmospheric, intense, suspenseful, seductive, dark, cold, moody, bloody, brutal and brilliant …

Romeo Is Bleeding (1994) is everything I want my favorite noir / neo-noir genre to be.

The movie opens with a one-man pity party.

There’s no pity like self-pity and Jim Daugherty (Gary Oldman) is feeling oh, so sorry for himself.

He leads a very different life to the one he destroyed five years ago.

Now, he’s running a lonely diner off the interstate.

The diner is empty.

After he cleans up, empties ashtrays, he uses the spare time to look through a photo album.

Through flashback and voice-over narration, he takes us through his previous life and the events

leading up to him being here.

We learn who he was before he became Jim Daugherty through the witness protection program.

Before he landed himself in trouble, he was Jack Grimaldi, a sergeant in the NYPD.

He’s a wise-cracking smart-ass with his brains in his balls, and he talks about love – a lot!

Jack Grimaldi:

“Do you know what makes love so frightening? It’s that you don’t own it; it owns you.”

He’s also a serial adulterer.

Nailing any woman willing to give it up to him.

His latest mistress is Sheri (Juliette Lewis), a cocktail waitress who wants Jack to fully commit and make a life with her.

Lust and Greed are the deadly sins that cloud his judgment.

Infidelity and money are his main priorities.

Jack Grimaldi:

“Well, like they say, a man don’t always do what’s best for him. Sometimes, he does the worst. He listens to a voice in his head. What do you know? He finds it’s the wrong voice. That’s what love can do to you.”

Annabella Sciorra is perfect as his long-suffering wife, Natalie, in a controlled, convincing and heart-breaking performance.

When she stands at the refrigerator, turns and points Jack’s own gun at him, her eyes burn and there’s an intense moment of stillness where we hear the mood music rise with the sense of heat in that kitchen, and we’re unsure if she’s actually going to shoot him.

There’s a neat touch with a distant bell tolling in the background; a for whom the bell tolls moment.

She turns it into a jokey gotcha moment, but we can tell the intention was there.

Before she lightens the moment with a smile and a wink, it’s as if she’s thinking: I know what you’ve been doing!

Jack can be romantic with his wife, when he wants to be, with dances under the stars and little gifts.

However, the romantic gestures don’t fool Natalie.

The camera, like the necklace in a later scene, is a guilt gift.

Jack has been up to his old tricks again and Natalie is on to him.

When he gifts her with a brand-new camera, Natalie unwraps it with a knowing look and a sarcastic tone to her voice.

Natalie Grimaldi:

“Okay. Now either I was really good, Jack, or you were really bad.”

Jack asks: “How come you never show me those pictures you take?”

Natalie deflects his question.

It’s not explained whether Natalie has a private detective following Jack, photographing his philandering, or she is tracking Jack herself.

It makes no difference.

Natalie adds the pictures of Jack’s numerous mistresses into the pages of the album, after their wedding photos.

As if to make the point: here’s us at our happiest moment, and the following pages of this album are the gallery of women you destroyed us for.

Natalie is quietly gathering the evidence of his multiple betrayals.

Biding her time.

Leading up to the moment she will leave and divorce him.

The end of their marriage doesn’t happen the way she might have envisioned, when Jack returns home panicked, bloody and missing a toe.

He gives her the half-million in mob blood money he’s collected and sends her out of town with instructions to set up a new home for them to share in the future.

Their farewell scene in the car is perfectly acted, as Jack pleads with Natalie not to abandon him.

Natalie walks out of his life, raising her hand in painful resignation, as she turns to him and says: “See ya when I see ya.”

With his colleagues and the mob, Jack is playing a dangerous game; playing everyone in his life for fools, working both sides against the middle.

He’s part of a team of detectives, liked and respected by his team, but he tips off the mob as to where prosecution witnesses are hidden.

The witnesses are murdered and Jack is paid well for his disloyalty: $65,000 a time,

for every witness he gives up to the mob.

The mob boss is the quietly menacing Don Falcone (Roy Scheider).

Jack thinks he’s got it all worked out, until he meets Mona Demarkov (Lena Olin).

She is caught on a job, arrested, and kept in protective custody until she can stand trial.

Falcone fears Mona will give him up as part of a plea deal.

Lena Olin is perfectly cast as a ruthless stone-cold femme fatale, seductive and cunning, with brains to match her beauty, a killer smile and a maniacal laugh.

Jack tries to distance himself from the mob, but they’ve got him on the dangle.

Jack is in – until Falcone says otherwise.

Jack thinks he can play Mona, the way he plays everyone else in his life, but it’s really Mona who’s toying with Jack.

She sees him for exactly who and what he is.

Mona is smarter than Jack and lethal.

Her movements are precise.

Cat-like.

Almost balletic as she steps, squats and glides around Jack, knowing exactly how to seduce him.

Like the Praying Mantis, Mona kills her men after mating, when she has no further use for them.

In the car scene, leading up to Mona forcing Jack to bury Falcone alive, Mona shares her “first time” experience.

The way she speaks, we’re led to believe she’s talking about the first time she made love to another man,

until she talks about how she closed his eyes, left him there, and returned to her home.

Mona concludes: “I guess you never forget the first time.”

A tear falls from her eye, like it was a beautiful moment in her life,

but she’s really talking about the first time she murdered someone.

Through the brutality, raw emotion is displayed.

Tears are shed by almost all the characters.

We believe their pain and fear because of the high caliber of the acting.

The entire cast of talented character actors shine and deliver powerful performances, including those in supporting or cameo roles: Will Patton, Ron Perlman, Dennis Farina, Tony Sirico, Michael Wincott, David Proval, Larry Joshua, Jay Patterson and James Cromwell.

The story comes full circle with Jack left alone.

A haunted and hollow man.

His career and former life destroyed.

Despised by the colleagues who once respected him.

Cast out to his desert highway exile.

He still hangs on to a tenuous shred of hope, that one May 1st, or December 1st, his wife will walk back into his life.

All will be forgiven.

They can be reunited and make a fresh start.

We – the audience – know it’s never going to happen.

Maybe, deep down, he knows it, too.

But he’ll never admit it.

His wife is gone.

Forever.

But he still hangs on to that hope.

Convincing himself that, even after all that happened, she still loves him.

Jack is in hell.

The hell of his own making.

That faint, futile, tenuous hope, is all the comfort he has left.

Seeing Jack alone at the end of the movie, I remembered a line from the 1970 Joni Mitchell song Big Yellow Taxi:

“Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you've got

Till it's gone.”

I get the feeling that song would resonate with Jack, as he sits and rereads the letter he wrote to his long-gone wife, the letter she never received.

In the end, Jack may feel he’s a fool for love, but he’s just a fool to himself.

By the way he treated his wife, it can be argued that, although he talks a lot about love,

he’s too selfish to know what love really is.

He screwed up his chance for true love with Natalie and ended up with nothing but loneliness, shame and the pain of regret.

Romeo Is Bleeding was directed by Peter Medak, written by Hilary Henkin,

and released in the United States on February 4, 1994.

The note-perfect music soundtrack, by Mark Isham, is one of my favorites.

When I first saw the movie during its opening cinema run, I left the theatre, went to a music store, and bought the soundtrack CD straight away.

One of my favorite scenes and sections of music is just over 37 minutes into the movie, where Jack goes to the records department, looks through Mona Demarkov’s file, steals an audio cassette tape from the evidence folder, and listens to the recording in his car.

The music includes atmospheric background swells, emphasizing the sinister undertone.

This is a key scene: Jack discovers the danger Mona poses to him, the extent to which she can manipulate and destroy others … and yet, though his own selfishness and stupidity, he goes along with her regardless.

Romeo Is Bleeding is beautifully filmed, well-paced, impeccably written, compelling and mesmerizingly stylish.

Of the many neo-noir erotic crime thrillers, particularly those made in the 1990s, Romeo Is Bleeding is one of the best.